Although the present invention could certainly be applied to indoor light fixtures, for the sake of brevity the following description will focus on the preferred application, outdoor light fixtures. There are many different types of outdoor light fixtures, including those designed to primarily project light upwardly (e.g., "well lights"), those designed to project light laterally (e.g., spotlights and floodlights), and those designed to produce a downwardly directed beam (e.g., "stake" and post lights). The present invention pertains to this last category of lights, i.e. "downlighting" lights. These lights are typically used to illuminate walkways, driveways and relatively low-lying bushes and landscaping details. Their distinguishing characteristic is that they are designed to throw most of their light downward to produce a pattern (typically a circle) of light on a substantially horizontal surface, centered about the post or stake supporting the bulb/lens assembly of the fixture. An example of a stake light is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,774,648, assigned to the assignee herein, such lights sometimes being called temple, accent or garden lights. A post light is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,507,715.
Stake and post lights and other "downlighting" fixtures have been generally available for some time. Although such fixtures are generally useful for their intended purposes, historically they have not been particularly flexible or adjustable in their application. For example, the typical prior art "stake light" includes a bulb/lens assembly mounted atop a stake having a length of about twelve to eighteen inches. With the stake pushed into the ground, louvers perhaps in combination with a lens produce a circle of light centered about the stake having a diameter of about 6 feet. While this may be adequate for some applications, e.g., general ground lighting of bushes, etc., it is inadequate for other applications, e.g. illuminating a fairly wide path (one which is wider than the radius of the circle of light). A "post light," which typically includes a bulb/lens assembly mounted atop a cylindrical post having a length greater than that of a temple light stake, can indeed create a pattern of light capable of covering the entire width of a path or sidewalk, but post lights are generally more expensive than temples by virtue of their size, and post lights are more obtrusive (i.e., taller) and are less able to produce a more defined spot of light which may be desirable to reduce glare, for example.
Also. Applicants have perceived that there are times when it would be desirable to have the light off-center with respect to the post or stake. For example, it may be desirable aesthetically, and from the standpoint of simple efficiency to dedicate all of the light produced by a fixture to a path rather than allow half of the light to spill out onto the grass as in the case of a "symmetrical" fixture.
While prior "downlighting" fixtures have generally not been particularly flexible in their application, the Assignee herein at least has offered fixtures which are adjustable to a large degree. For example, Toro manufactures an accent or temple light (the subject of U.S. Pat. No. 4,774,648) which includes a middle louver and a cap which can be independently removed to provide additional lateral and uplighting, respectively; and a post light (the subject of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 116,997, filed Dec. 21, 1987) having vertically adjustable louvers which change the aesthetics and the lateral lighting ability of the fixture.
Although the Toro temple and post lights discussed above provide some flexibility and are quite useful for their intended purposes, there is a need for a "vertical" or "downlighting" outdoor fixture which is even more flexible or adjustable, given the wide variety of potential uses for such lights. Therefore, the present invention is directed toward a "vertical" light which is extremely flexible and adjustable to address the problems outlined above.